If ever there was the
perfect Trojan Horse - something that could undermine the church and turn
its thinking from a Biblical to a humanistic base, this is it. We opened the
doors of our churches, our Bible Schools and Seminaries and embraced it. We
tried to integrate it with Biblical teachings and came up with the greatest,
newest, most improved way of ever dealing with the human condition - and we call
it “Christian Psychology”! I could take a survey of solid evangelical
Christians and ask them what they think of “Christian” psychology, and I am sure
I would get a positive response from 99 out of 100. It would be even higher
among pastors. So, are they right or am I just tilting at windmills?

If we are living in the "latter times," one of the most important
questions facing Christians will be: How will we recognize deception? How
will we recognize apostasy? How can we guard against being deceived and falling
away? A friend said the deception of Satan is pitiful but is it healthy to
be so cavalier in dismissing Satan and his abilities? He is the "angel of
light" and his deception is bound to be so good that most people, including
Christians will be misled. The word apostasy means "falling away." One
doesn't decide to "fall away." It starts with a series of little compromises,
attitudes and decisions. Once the downward slide begins, it often becomes too
slippery to climb back up. Falling away begins a little at a time. "A little
leaven leavens the whole loaf" (I Cor. 5:6). The loaf can be 99% pure
unleavened bread, but once the process works its course, it becomes 100%
leavened. The process is slow and subtle. It starts by allowing a little
mixture. That is why throughout the Old Testament, God hated mixture. Any time
his people mixed with the heathen and their religion, they fell away from God.
In modern times, we have seen the leaven of modern culture seeping into the
church. The most dangerous leaven of all is a false science that presents a
different view of man’s nature, and an improved way of solving his problems.
Yet, because it is so accepted by Christians, it is a very difficult subject to
deal with. I have received more opposition to my position on Christian
Psychology than any other topic.

An Apostate Philosophy or a Science?

If there is to be a great deception and falling away in the
last days, it has got to be good. It can't be too extreme or true Christians
would never accept it. It can't be obviously heretical or it will never be
embraced by the main stream. A really good deception has to so good that
no one will dare to question. It has to be embraced by everyone! In fact, the
best deception would be for it to get into the church as a science, a science
adopted by the church, popular with both the clergy and laity, a wonderful blend
of the best of both worlds. What if we could improve Christianity with this
wonderful new science? That is exactly what has happened.

“Christian” psychology has gained such acceptance that some of the most popular
programs today are "Focus on the Family", Minirth Myre, and others. Psychology
has been accepted by all seminaries and Bible Schools - in fact, it is required
for them to be accredited. Nearly all offer a specialization in various aspects
of psychology and counseling. Many large churches have more people trained in
psychology than they do pastors - just to keep up with the counseling needs of
the congregation. Pastors are warned to counsel only on spiritual matters but
leave the psychological problems to the new priesthood - the Christian
psychologist!

Psychology has become such a part of our thinking and way of life, it is hard to
think of it in bad terms. We find psychology in sermons, in church counseling
and referral services, sometimes within the church, in bible schools and
seminaries, Christian schools, mandated marriage and family counseling,
missionary recovery programs, Christian radio and best selling Christian books.
Psychology has become a part of the very fabric of modern Christianity thanks to
the popularity of people like James Dobson, Gary Smalley and many more who
bombard the air waves and bookstores with their new and improved message for
meeting man's growing problems. Most evangelicals see no conflict and see the
two working well together. It is becoming big business.

“The American Association of Christian Counselors has 17,500 members. The
“Christian” psychological counseling market includes many individuals and small
counseling centers. It also has large conglomerates with radio programs that
entice Christians into therapy programs. The Minirth Meier New Life Clinic has
25 inpatient units, 55 outpatient units and over 600 employees. That clinic
alone reported 500 inpatient admissions and 7,600 outpatient clinic visits
just during the month of June 1996. Rapha has 63 programs, ‘has a network of
3,500 churches in its RaphaCare program,’ and ‘has doubled in size in the last
18 months.’” (Martin and Diedre Bobgan, Psychoheresy Proliferating
from their internet page)

I have never dealt with such an emotional and controversial issue.
Unfortunately, many have slipped so far, they have their minds made up and will
not even take the time to study the issues. This report looks at the historical
background and basis of psychology and whether there is anything wrong with
combining the best of psychology with the Bible. Is psychology objective
scientific truth? Is all truth God's truth, as some psychologists
suggest? Can't we take the best of both? Can't we use additional revelation to
the Scripture? Some say there is a difference between a psychiatrist, a
psychologist and a counselor. Is there or do they all use the same basic
methodology? We will explore these and other questions.

Secular Humanism - The New Religion of Man

Christians seem to have blind spots. We recognized Communism as more than a
philosophy of how humans should organize themselves economically, of how goods
are produced or who owns property. Communism was a religion of "no religion." It
made a statement about God by saying God doesn't exist. It put man at the
center. Any good communist would tell you about its "religious" nature. But it
wasn't all that subtle. In the west, along comes a related "religion" called
secular humanism, another "man centered" philosophy.

Christians are concerned that secular humanism has infiltrated our
schools and universities, our cultural and societal values and our system of
government. We understand that humanism is a philosophy which says man and only
man can resolve his own problems. We are appalled that there are no absolutes,
no set values, morals or standards. Everything is relative. Within secular
humanism is the belief that man is the master of his own destiny and there
is no problem that he can't solve, no task too difficult. Society just has to
put its mind to the problems . The answer lies in education, eliminating
poverty, prejudice, and all the terrible conditions. People are seen as victims
who have been abused by others or their environment, but they are considered
inherently good, just needing to be rescued. Human potential is endless. The
human spirit is indomitable. All we have to do is eliminate the causes of crime,
poverty, war, misunderstanding and so forth, and things will be better. The
irony is that the same Christians who vehemently oppose secular humanism,
are seduced by the secular humanist view of man which is embodied in
modern psychology.

We are not referring to "pop" psychology - those little gimmicks that come up
from time to time - but we are talking about psychology as it defines what man
is, how he works and the solutions it proposes to his problems. I would submit
that the psychologists’ view of man is "secular humanist religion", and
diametrically opposed to the Biblical view of man.

The Origins of Psychology

The father of modern psychology was Franz Anton Mesmer, who popularized
hypnotism, also known as "mesmerism", an ancient occultic art, and brought it
into modern medicine. It was a way to discover hidden powers and insights... and
eventually led to all forms of self-discovery, self-improvement and
"possibility" thinking. - the idea that we can tap into unconscious or
subconscious levels where we are able to exercise telepathic, and other creative
powers. This opened the science of the mind to a supernatural realm that is
still very much a part of psychology which we now call ESP - "extra sensory
perception". It has become one of the cornerstones of the New Age movement and
has crept into the modern church in the "word-faith" or "name it and claim it"
movements. It can also be seen in visualization and the "healing of memories"
and other practices of groups such as the Vineyards. It is no accident that the
beginnings of modern psychology introduced an occult element that lasts to this
day. However, the occult is relatively easy to spot and reject so it had to
infiltrate Christianity in a much more subtle way - as a science.

The history of modern psychotherapy reveals the rise and fall of one methodology
after another. This should make one question the scientific validity of
psychology. Although Sigmund Freud's many theories based on various sexual
complexes have been discredited, present day psychologists still follow many of
his theories and use his jargon. Freud created suspicion toward parents and
reduced the root of many problems to childhood traumas. This search in the past
for causes is a major theme in psychology today.

Then along came Carl Jung, who like Freud was not only a secular humanist - one
who believes all answers lie within man - but he participated in seances,
necromancy (talking to the dead) and other occultic practices. His brand of
psychological determinism has also fallen by the wayside in terms of scientific
validity - yet it can be found in such works as the Promise Keepers’ book by
Hicks titled The Masculine Journey.

Alfred Adler felt people were less motivated by sexual impulses and more by
aggression to overcome feelings of inferiority. Like most humanists, Adler,
Abraham Maslow, Eric Fromm and others view man's basic nature of dignity,
goodness and worth, with an inherent ability to change and improve. Adler came
up with the idea of unconditional love and Maslow saw self-esteem as a universal
imperative. The self-esteem doctrine was improved by Carl Rogers, the son of a
minister who rejected Christianity. All of these men presented a completely
secular humanist view of man. It wasn't until some years later that
"Christian" psychologists came along and decided these concepts could be dressed
up and "Christianized" and that is what was done by James Dobson, and nearly all
of the "Christian" psychologists that followed. They claim to be based on
“Christian” principles, but it is easy to prove most Christian professionals use
whatever theories they were taught in school that they like the best.

Is psychology a science? A true science deals with data. It can predict
and control. But the foundations of psychotherapy are not scientific but
philosophical. If we look at the founders of modern psychology, we see Sigmund
Freud, Carl Jung, Abraham Maslow, William James, Alfred Adler, Erich Fromm, Carl
Rogers, F. B. Skinner, there is not a godly man among them. This list is a Who's
Who in humanism! Their view of man is totally humanistic and their psychological
views are nothing more than humanistic religion at its worst. They not
only get into occultism and Eastern Religion, it springs from New Age thought.
The focus is self - self actualization, self image, self fulfillment,
self esteem, self worth, self-improvement, in short the God of “SELF.”
This is a religion of self-worship. It is self-centered and self-inflated.
Contrary to what Christian psychologists say, man has no problem loving himself
and he is therefore urged to love God first and then his neighbor as himself.
The so called human potential movement leads right to the deification of man.

The so-called science of psychology claims it is based upon the observation of
human behavior. But human behavior is far to difficult to isolate and study as
you would microbes under a microscope. There are just too many variables. The
result is some one's interpretation of what determines human behavior. It is not
science. Freud, for example, traced everything back to a child's relationship to
his mother and father, often couching things in disgusting sexual terms such as
his stages of development - anal, oral, phallic and genital. Maslov defined a
hierarchy of needs in an effort to explain behavior. These are all no more than
theories. There is no scientific proof. Anyone can devise a system for
explaining human behavior and then interpret it in terms of his own explanation.
The fact is psychology is not science but opinion and philosophy - even a
humanistic religion.

Further, psychotherapy does not work. Research indicates there is an inverse
relationship between the amount of training a therapist has and their success
rate. "Pop" psychology theories such as right and left brained differences, and
birth order that have been completely discredited but are promulgated by
"Christian" psychologists such as Gary Smalley. None of this is science - but
merely unproved opinions, observations and brilliant ideas.

The Psychological Approach

As noted above, modern psychology has its roots in secular humanist thought
where man is viewed as inherently good. Psychology teaches that man's problems
stem mainly from his environment and the way he was raised, not from the sinful
nature he is born with. We see this humanistic orientation in every aspect of
psychology. Psychology tries to come across as a science and even as medicine.
It talks of "mental illness" - illness of the mind! This statement is an
oxymoron. The mind can't be sick. One can understand a diseased body or even a
diseased brain - but what about a diseased mind, emotion or even behavior?
Although medical problems may occur, the many problems labeled as "mental
illness" are not pathologies. Nothing physical is wrong with the person.
Psychology views human problems as a sickness, so they look for the cause.
Respected “Christian” psychologists have convinced us that , it is not only
possible to integrate psychology and the Bible, it is a desirable improvement.
They imply that many problems are too serious to be dealt with through
application of the Scripture by untrained people. How lost God’s people must
have been for thousands of years until psychology came along in the last
century! Are God, His Word and His people insufficient to deal with the human
dilemma?

Psychiatry, psychology and most counseling takes the patient on a search through
his past to find the cause to a person's problem. This often goes back to family
members or some traumatic event. It may be an abusive or alcoholic parent. The
alcoholic and the children are all seen as victims. Digging up the past and
digging up root causes for problems takes one on a search which alters the way
we view our selves and our sin. Jesus never told people to dig up their past. He
said, “Forget those things which are behind.”(Phil 3:13) He never offered
"victimization counseling" trying to get people to feel the pain of those
experiences that damaged their self-esteem. Jesus didn't see man as hurt,
traumatized, dysfunctional or addicted. Instead, Jesus hurt their self image by
telling people they are sinful, rebellious, evil and that there is no good in
them. They can only throw themselves at the foot of the cross, confess their sin
and ask Jesus to heal and renew them. In some circles, this is called a
"negative confession!" But Jesus does not deal with us as a victim but as a
sinner needing a Savior. When we talk about Christian psychology, we are not
dealing with different Scriptural interpretations but different world views.

"Modern Christians tend to make satisfaction their religion. We show much
more concern for self-fulfillment than for pleasing our God. Typical of
Christianity today, at any rate in the English-speaking world, is its massive
rash of how-to books for believers, directing us to more successful
relationships, more joy in sex, becoming more of a person, realizing our
possibilities, getting more excitement each day, reducing our weight, improving
our diet, managing our money, licking our families into happier shape and
whatnot. For people whose prime passion is to glorify God, these are doubtless
legitimate concerns; but the how-to books regularly explore them in a
self-absorbed way that treats our enjoyment of life rather than the glory of God
as the center of interest. Granted, they spread a thin layer of Bible teaching
over the mixture of popular psychology and common sense they offer, but their
overall approach clearly reflects the narcissism -- "selfism" or "me-ism" as it
is sometimes called--that is the way of the world in the modern West. (as
quoted in PsychoHeresy, p. 63)

Loving our "self", as we have seen from II Timothy 3, is a terrible sin and one
of the primary signs of the "last days." We are told to love God first
and others second. We are not told to love ourselves but to deny our self
and pick up the cross and follow Him. So let's examine in more depth the "self"
teachings of Christian psychologists.

The Gospel of Self

Carl Rogers who was rated in first place in a ranking survey of the Christian
Association of Psychological Studies. (as quoted in Martin and Diedre Bobgan,
PsychoHeresy, p.106). Carl Rogers is the leader in the modern self-esteem
frenzy. Now, why would the Christian Association rank an atheistic secular
humanist as Rogers as their favorite? Does he have some special revelation that
we lack? “The Church of Jesus Christ is being plundered and sold into the
hands of its enemies because it has played the harlot with the god of psychology
whose unbiblical goal is to make people ‘feel good about themselves’, rather
than to love God with all their heart, soul and mind and strength and to be
conformed to the image of His son” (Mel and Gloria Blowers, Psychology: A
Biblical Analysis from the Psychoheresy internet site).

With the advent of Adler, Maslow and later Rogers, self esteem became the major
focus and was "Christianized" by "Christian" psychologists. They argue that man
cannot love God or other people unless he loves himself first. He cannot esteem
God and others highly unless he first esteems himself. It is almost as if a new
commandment were added. Love yourself first and only then will you have the
ability to love God and others. When your needs are met, you can meet the needs
of others. This is hog wash!

The major theme throughout the books of James Dobson (Hide and Seek, Dare to
Discipline, What Wives Wish Their Husbands Knew About Women, etc.) and most
other Christian psychologists is the basic need for self esteem before a
Christian can progress. Although Dobson and other Christian psychologists will
criticize some psychological techniques, they accept others. This includes
psychology's basic understanding of man and its methods of diagnosing and
solving man's problems of living.. Psychology says man is a victim and needs to
build up his self esteem and learn to love himself. Is this what Scripture
teaches? Scripture says man is a sinner, not a victim, and already loves himself
sufficiently. He needs to love God first and esteem others as better than
himself. Ephesians 5:29 says, "for no one ever hated his own flesh, but
nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also {does} the church. There is
a world of difference between the Scriptural and psychological views of self.

In Hide or Seek: How to Build Self-Esteem in Your Child, James Dobson
says,

"Thus, if inadequacy and inferiority are so universally prevalent at all ages
of life at this time, we must ask ourselves "why?" Why can't our children grow
up accepting themselves as they are? Why do so many feel unloved and unlovable?
Why are our homes and schools more likely to produce despair and self-hatred
than quiet confidence and respect? Why should each child have to bump his head
on the same old rock? These questions are of major significance to every parent
who would shield his child from the agony of inferiority.

"The matter of personal worth is not only the concern of those who lack it.
In a real sense, the health of an entire society depends on the ease with which
its individual members can gain personal acceptance. Thus, whenever the keys to
self-esteem are seemingly out of reach for a large percentage of the people, as
in "mental illness," neuroticism, hatred, alcoholism, drug abuse, violence, and
social disorder will certainly occur. Personal worth is not something human
beings are free to take or leave. We must have it and when it is unattainable,
everybody suffers" (James Dobson, Hide or Seek, pp. 20, 21)

This idea of self-acceptance is not found in the Bible. The Bible stresses being
content with what we have (Hebrews 13:5), whether we are rich or poor, gifted or
average, bond or free, a master or a slave. The Bible declares our goodness is
as filthy rags, that we were enemies of God. Yet, Dobson says, "The sooner
you can accept the transcending worth of your humanness, the sooner you can come
to terms with yourself." (Hide and Seek, p. 147) God never talked
about the transcending worth of our humanness - to the contrary. Christ didn't
die for us because there was something lovable and of inherent value in our
humanness!

Psychologizers would say the cross calls us to self-affirmation (The
Cross of Christ by John Stott). What kind of gospel is this? Paul cries, "O
wretched man that I am. Who shall free me from the Body of this death?" (Romans
7:24) What a negative self-image Paul had! But the issue is not our self-worth,
but our depravity. God loves me in spite of - not because of what I am. So which
is it, are we supposed to love "self" or deny "self"?

What does the “religion of self” have in common with the Gospel of Jesus
Christ? Anything wrong with that picture? For any of you who have read any of
Dobson's books, you know by now that one of the major themes underlying them is
that he feels low self-esteem is the problem and high self-esteem the solution.
Dobson gives strategies for improving self esteem in his book Hide or Seek
as this one passage illustrates. "You see, damage to the ego (loss of
self-worth) actually equals or exceeds the pain of physical discomfort in
intensity. . . . So painful is its effect that our entire emotional apparatus is
designed to protect us from its oppression. In other words, a sizable proportion
of all human activity is devoted to the task of shielding us from the inner pain
of inferiority. I believe this to be the most dominant force in life, even
exceeding the power of sex and its influence." (Dobson, ibid. p. 152,) This
is but one example, and there are hundreds, of his psychological orientation, in
this case close to Adler and Maslov.

Does increasing self-esteem resolve society's problems? The State of California
had a Task Force to Promote Self-Esteem and Personal and Social Responsibility.
They conducted a study expecting to find a relationship between self-esteem and
six areas: crime, violence and recidivism; alcohol and drug abuse; welfare
dependency; teenage pregnancy; child and spousal abuse and children failing to
learn in school. Since they set out to prove a causal relation, they were
extremely disappointed to find no correlation. (as documented in Psycho Heresy
II, pp. 119-132).

Does self esteem help our educational system. Bobgan also reports on a study of
13-year old's math scores and self esteem from six different countries. The
Koreans came out top in math and bottom in self esteem. The Americans came out
on the bottom in math and top in self esteem. So we have a new generation of
kids that are near the bottom in most categories and don't even know it (or
probably don't even care!).

The idea that you have to love yourself before you can love God and others is
not the “greatest love of all” but the greatest lie. Jesus himself said, "no one
ever hates himself." Low self esteem or lack of loving ourselves is not the
problem. That comes naturally. The Bible is about giving love, not self-serving
love once your self-esteem is high enough to overflow to someone else. Contrary
to what Dobson teaches, self image isn't a problem, especially among children
and that according to research! What a person does with Christ is more important
than what they think about their “self”. In fact, a self-satisfied person is not
likely to see his true condition and come to Christ. Nor is it likely a
self-satisfied Christian will feel much of a need for the Lord. In Luke
18:10-14, the Pharisee was glad he was not as other men - he had very high
self-esteem. He fasted and gave tithes. But the publican smote his breast asking
God for mercy, a poor man with dangerously low self-esteem. If Jesus wanted to
teach self-esteem, he would have taught the parable differently. Self-esteem,
self deception and self-righteousness always go together. They do not lead
people to Christ but to Apostasy.

What does the Bible say? "If any man will come after me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." (Luke 9:23). Paul,
who had good reason to boast said, "whatever things were gain to me, those
things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ." (Phil. 3:7) My what a
negative confession! But be warned, "This know also, that in the last days
perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of heir own selves,
covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful,
unholy, without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent,
fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers
of pleasures more than lovers of God. (II Timothy 3:1-4)

New Revelation or A False Gospel?

This is not a question of "pop" psychology. This is a question of which basic
view of man we believe - God's or man's. Today, this “gospel of self” is being
preached to the whole world and in popular organizations such as the Promise
Keepers and Focus on the Family. Is that the gospel we ascribe to, or the
foolishness of the cross of Christ? Do we believe that we are victims or
sinners? Does the answer lie in dealing with the past or coming to the cross? Is
the answer in a better self or a dead self? Does the answer lie in Christ plus a
secular humanist system or in Christ alone? Is Christian psychology new
revelation or false teaching?

"Christian" psychology turns people from the true gospel to another gospel.
Man's problem is no longer just sin and rebellion. It is a bad self image. It is
trauma in the birth canal (that needs regression and healing of memories). It is
the way one is treated by a mother, a father, other people. It is drugs,
alcohol, homosexual tendencies. The goal is to assign and transfer blame off of
yourself and onto someone or something else - guilt transference. I don't
have room here to talk about all of the theories in the tower of psychobabel,
but only to point out that icons in modern Christianity such as James
Dobson, Gary Collins, Gary Smalley, John Trent and Robert Hicks are not only
into it but they are among the strongest proponents of Promise Keepers.

"Christian" psychologists have attempted to integrate psychology into a Biblical
perspective, coming up with "Biblical" term and equivalents, examples, etc. But
this proves nothing. It only brings in an evil mixture. They argue that all
truth is God's truth and that the Bible is not sufficient in explaining the
psychological problems of man's condition and behavior. Unfortunately, every
major so called "Christian psychologist" uses a mixture of secular psychology,
Bible talk and warm and fuzzy stories to convince people they have a new and
improved approach. However, only God through His revealed Word and the work of
His Son has the answer to man's problem. Psychology is man's attempt to explain,
understand and fix problems that relate to the human condition apart from Jesus
Christ.

Are the Roots of Modern Psychology Christian?

In the December 1996 issue of Christianity Today there was a special on
psychology. An article titled “The Roots and Shoots of Christian Psychology”
showed a tree with branches bearing the names of the well-known
psychological integrationists: the “spiritual seekers” such as Larry Crabb and
Dan Allender, the “Family/Marriage branch with James Dobson and Norm Wright, the
“Clinical Care” branch with Minirth Meier, the “Disassociative Disorders”
Branch, the “self esteem” branch, Pastoral Counseling and so on. The roots
of the tree were labeled “Secular and Humanistic Pioneers” and included
such notables as Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow, B.F.
Skinner, etc. None was a believer. Most were violently opposed to Christianity
and most had strong metaphysical beliefs. What kind of tree is this?

In fact, Christian Psychologists can’t even tell you what “Christian
Psychology” is. The Christian Association for Psychological Studies (CAPS)
is an organization of psychologists who are professing Christians. The following
was admitted at one of their meetings:

“We are often asked if we are “Christian psychologists” and find it difficult
to answer since we don’t know what the question implies. We are Christians who
are psychologists but at the present there is no acceptable Christian
psychology that is markedly different from non-Christian psychology. It is
difficult to imply that we function in a manner that is fundamentally distinct
from our non-Christian colleagues...as yet there is no acceptable theory, mode
of research or treatment that is distinctly Christian.”

“Professional psychotherapy with its underlying psychologies is questionable
at best, detrimental at worst, and a spiritual counterfeit at the least.”
(From The End of “Christian Psychology” by Martin and Diedre Bobgan,
page 1)

Christians and "Christian" psychologists defend their practice of psychology by
arguing that "all truth is God's truth." They argue that the laws of hard
sciences such as physics are natural laws established by God. Psychology, they
contend, is also a science, and therefore truth. A science of what? Of man? Of
the mind? Is psychology really an objective body of knowledge? The field is so
riddled with its own internal confusion, inconsistencies and subjectivity, there
is little agreement by those in the field. To sanctify psychology with Scripture
only secularizes the Word of God and mixes a dangerous and ungodly leaven.

Psychology is a secular religion. Psychology offers a view of man. It
theorizes that man has evolved and has infinite power to solve his own problems.
It is an attempt to diagnosis and treat the fallen condition of man. It is an
attempt to explain the reasons for man’s problems. The psychological approach is
to blame every thing (parents, alcohol, low self esteem) but man's sinful
condition and need for a savior. Why would we want to integrate an
unbiblical, unproved, human system into Christianity? Why do Christian
psychologists feel they have to defend what they are doing in "Christian" terms?
Why would they say we need Jesus plus psychology? Because they need
income? Because the Bible doesn't quite explain the human problem and meet the
need? Brothers and sisters, read the Old Testament. The Israelites let in other
religions, allowing them to mix, and what was the result? They lost the blessing
of God and were eventually judged. Can we expect anything less? There are more
Christian psychology radio programs and books today than ever before in history.
Is it doing any good? Are Christian families any more together today than they
were twenty or thirty years ago based upon all this wonderful new knowledge?
Psychology is the religion of self, of the "me" generation. It has permeated
society and now the church. It is so subtle, so deceptive. It crept in and no
one even notices or seems to care. There should be shouts of warning - enemy in
the camp! But alas, it is silent.

Now if psychology has its roots in a man-centered mind set that is void of God,
why do so called "Christian" psychologists try and integrate it into
Christianity? Does psychology know something about the human condition that God
doesn't? Even some will admit that there is no such thing as "Christian
Psychology" - just psychologists who happen to be Christians applying
psychological principles in their work. I wish I had time to go into detail here
because the problem goes to the very heart of modern Christianity. This is the
leaven in the loaf. Psychology is a godless, empty, Antichrist mind set that has
infiltrated the church and is subverting it. In fact, there are many practices
in psychology such as hypnotism, visualization and forms of meditation that are
not only New Age, but demonic. They put people in touch with demons (even though
they may think they are speaking to Jesus, Mary or some dead saint). The problem
is, once we let psychology into the church, we have opened ourselves to a "world
view" that is against everything we should be standing for, and it is gradually
transforming us, subverting us, deceiving us.

Is "All Truth God's Truth?"

An elementary course in Psychology 1A will tell you that psychology is not a
true science. Human behavior can be described, but it can't be studied with the
same predictability and replicability of a science. There is no clear cause and
effect. Further, psychology has developed over 500 different approaches and
thousands of techniques. Many are conflicting. Many have come and gone.
Transactional analysis was hot in Christian circles twenty years ago and is
forgotten today. Was this "God's truth" as those who believe we should take the
best of psychology would say? Did it change? The question is, when we mix the
Bible with psychology because "all truth is God's truth" - as those who propose
the evil mixture say - are we glorifying God or the world? Is our standard the
shifting sands of psychological truth or the Word of God?

Anyone who knows the field must admit that 99 percent of psychologist's opinions
about relationships and problems of living is personal opinion - not scientific
fact. Degrees after a persons name do not make psychologists better at assessing
human problems. In fact, many studies note an inverse relationship in the
success of counseling and the amount of training a person has. (see research
cited in PsychoHeresy, pp. 179-187). "Christian" psychologists use the
Word to give credibility to their opinions, but anyone can do that. It means
nothing. There is a huge difference between biblical counseling and
psychological counseling. True biblical counseling is disappearing as the
"professionals" take over problems of the mind and soul - leaving the pastor
with "spiritual" problems.

Can a person solve his problems and become a better person by applying
psychological methods, by improving and loving his self, or does the only source
of real change come from having a relationship with Jesus Christ? Or do you need
both? The Scripture says, “See to it that no one takes you captive through
philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to
the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ"
(Colossians 2:8) Psychology focuses on self and feeds pride, rebellion and the
flesh. The Bible encourages us to deny self and the flesh and to follow the
Spirit in humility and submission to God. We are talking about a colossal deceit
that began in the Garden of Eden when Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the
serpent, trying to convince God they were just poor victims. Do we blame
everything but ourselves? Are we victims or helpless sinners? The difference is
between a man-centered versus a Christ-centered gospel.

Conclusion

I hope you will take the time to study the Bobgan's books on PsychoHeresy
or Jim Owen's book "Christian Psychology's War on God's Word, The
Victimization of the Believer. There is so much that has been written. There
is so much research that has been done to show the utter lack of effectiveness
of psychology. Yet, it has crept into the heart of the church. Well-meaning men
such as Dobson, Smalley, Trent and many more continue to actively push
psychology on the church. No matter how well it is presented, with so many cute
stories and antidotes, it is a mixture and it is dangerous to the spiritual
health of the believer who listens. A few, such as Larry Crabb, Ph.D., well
known Christian psychologist, recently denounced psychology in an article in
Christianity Today (August 14, 1995). He says,

"This leads me to suggest that what we call emotional/psychological problems are
really spiritual/theological ones; that non organic problems really stem from a
troubled soul, not from some damaged self which psychotherapists
claim to fix...The church needs to take the role of spiritual, godly men and
women far more seriously. They have a lot more power to deeply affect the souls
of other people than they generally are given credit for."

If you have ever known Christians who have gone to counseling, you can see the
change in their behavior, the way they view their problems and relate to other
people. They start to blame people in their past and present. They become
confrontive. They dwell on the past and try and "work through" events that have
hurt them. They develop a pattern of thought that reeks of mixture and self
righteousness. The psychologized Christian becomes concerned with his image, his
self-esteem, those events in life that molded or warped them. How different from
the great Apostle Paul who had every reason to boast but counted it all as dung
that he might gain Christ--who counted everything he gained as loss and who,
forgetting the past, pressed on toward the mark of the high calling. (my
paraphrase. Please see Philippians 3). We are not told to dredge up the past but
forget it!

If these are the "last days," and there is going to be an apostate church,
what will it be like? Will it be the self-loving, self-absorbed, self-centered,
self-indulgent church that expects to rapture rather than to suffer? Will a "psychologized"
church escape deception or be a part of it? Will a "psychologized" Christian
with a neat self-image see the deception or be a part of it? Will Christians be
so well grounded in the truth that they will reject the deception, or will they
be caught up in it because they simply don't know any better or because they
have been programmed by that New Age Trojan Horse called “Christian
Psychology.”

Now that we are on a roll, let’s go on with more of the Promise Keepers. Let’s
see how apostasy creeps into the church unawares.

Notice:
The Book "Recognizing Deception and Apostasy" was
written by Dene McGriff. The original source of the
book is located at the web site
www.the-tribulation-network.com which
operates under the name of "The Tribulation Network" which is
owned and operated by Pergamos Ministries. Permission is
granted to copy and distribute this book via printed media, in its entirety, without any changes to the original content
so long as this Notice accompanies ALL copies distributed. Any web site may link to this article at
http://www.the-tribulation-network.com/denemcgriff/Apostasy/recognizing_deception_and_apostasy.htm
It is requested that you do not copy this article into any web site due to
the possibility that we may add or delete to this article at any time. And
if you do not have the latest additions to the article, then you might be
misrepresenting us.